Thursday, September 26, 2019

Brooks Innovation Summit Trip Recap {+ GIVEAWAY}

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to attend the Brooks Innovation Summit thanks to my relationship as a Run Happy Ambassador. Although we didn't have a ton of details beforehand, I still signed up. Who can pass up a free trip to Seattle that includes the opportunity to see running friends and learn top secret info about Brooks?! Not me, that's for sure...

Isn't it awesome that Brooks made a statue in my likeness in front of their trailhead store?! Hehe...

I'll be honest from the jump, there is a lot of information I can't share {yet}, but I still wanted to do a quick recap about the trip. And I guess a quick recap makes sense because it was a quick trip. You may remember the hubby and I were out of town for our Mt. Whitney hike and subsequent adventuring from Thursday through Tuesday. Well, the Brooks trip was set to begin bright and early Thursday morning, so I had less than 48 hours at home before heading out again... and would be back to San Diego by Friday evening (yep, I'd be in Seattle for all of about 34 hours). But let's get into it, shall we?!

Brooks was gracious enough to cover our travel. They gave us perimeters and had us work with a travel agent to get our flights set. The flight from San Diego to Seattle is about 3 hours (I thought that seemed incredibly long, but I guess you are flying the entire span of the West Coast) and to get me into town for the summit kick-off I had to catch a 6:15am flight.

Let the zero sleep commence...

Some of the ambassadors got into town with enough time to go for a quick run before we had to meet up with everyone (one of the pros of an early flight). I never turn down extra miles (especially with friends), so once we got to Brooks Headquarters (HQ), we dropped our bags and hit the pavement. We were able to get in a few miles at a fast pace (or at least faster than I was originally expecting, but with our schedule we had to go quick so we would be back in time for lunch - but, shoot, you know we still had to make time for a couple character stops along the way ;)).

If you don't have time for a monster narwhal picture then you are doing it wrong...

Not too shabby for just getting off a plane!

Once we got back we were able to cool down for a few minutes, change our gear and grab some grub (yay for having vegetarian options - and thankfully I recently got over my aversion to tofu {as long as the texture isn't too terrible}).

Get in my belly!

After we were able to chow down, the presentations started (they obviously knew to give us a few uninterrupted moments with our food because they clearly would've never been able to hold our attention with grumbling bellies). Like I alluded to earlier, unfortunately I cannot share the nitty gritty details of these presentations (I swore on all the chips and salsa in the world that I wouldn't spill the beans), but believe me when I tell you there are some BIG things coming down the pipeline in the next year or so. Some products are being reworked to better serve the community while others are brand new!

PS We didn't know the trip was going to include people outside of our RHA crew like media and retailers, so didn't realize there'd be other folks in the presentations - including the editor of Runner's World. And, guess what... I'm in the foreground of one of his Instagram photos! I mean, you may not be able to tell it's me, but I promise it is ;) #ClaimToFame

Once the afternoon of presentations concluded, it was time to head out for a speed workout with Shadrack Biwott. Oh, you may not know who he is, but if you are in the running community you've probably heard of him. He is a Brooks athlete, was the first American male finisher (third overall) of the 2018 Boston Marathon (the same year Des Linden won the female race) and a BEAST all around. To say we were a little intimidated would be an understatement. Thankfully, Shadrack turned out to be not only an amazing runner (which we already knew) but an awesome guy all around. He was super down-to-earth and spent time chatting with whoever wanted a moment of his time. (I sat with Janae behind him on the bus and we talked to him about everything from his "easy pace runs" to his next goal race.) We did a 10 minute warm-up, got to change into some super secret shoes, ran a few strides and then tested the shoes on a quick jog. He even taught us the special way he ties his shoes! The workout wasn't anything too strenuous (thank goodness because I sort of got in speedwork earlier on our run around the Green Lake Loop - I think in total it was maybe a mile and a half and maybe 30 minutes), but still a fan-freakin'-tastic experience to run alongside a professional runner and interact with him like he was just "one of us". Major props go to Shadrack for blessing us with his time, energy and expertise.

These folks ROCK MY SOCKS!

A few of the OG RHA ladies!

Check it out... I may be beating Shadrack... I doubt it, but at some angle it might look legit ;)

The crew who turned out for the speed workout!

Always cheesin' for the camera...

The man, the myth, the speedster!

I didn't have my watch going during the dynamic stretching portion of the workout

To cap off the evening we went to a rooftop restaurant and got to hang out while enjoying stunning views. Although I'd love to say everyone mingled, it seemed like the ambassadors hung out with the ambassadors, the media peeps stuck with the media peeps and the retailers chilled with the retailers. If there's a similar event in the future I would love to see more introductions being made and engagement across the board - but hey, that's just me. Even still, it was a fun night.

The view wasn't too shabby! And we were even treated with a lightning storm in the distance that was pretty amazing to watch.

These two friends are AMAZEBALLS - no ifs, ands or buts about it!

Cheers to an awesome day at the Brooks Headquarters with amazing people!

Friday morning was set to begin around 8am, but Brian and I looked at the schedule and noticed there was "plenty of time" to run from the hotel to the November Project Seattle workout and then run back again before meeting up with everyone for our next day of events. Well, shoot doggy, you don't have to tell me twice, so Brian, Lauren and I met in the hotel lobby around 5:45am to head over to Gas Works Park for a morning workout. {The leader of NP Seattle is actually one of the ambassador liaisons, so of course we had to show our support and get our booties to the workout.}

Brian is all about using his GoPro lately (and I am all about using the photos he takes with it ;))

Can you see the Seattle skyline and Space Needle far off in the distance?!

We ran by Brooks HQ on the way back from the NP workout.

The workout for the day was sort of a circuit, starting with burpees, then running to a station where you'd do partner push-ups, then running to a station where you'd do partner planks, then running to a station where you'd do partner sit-ups, then running back to the burpees to start the cycle all over again. #RealTalk - it was A LOT more upper body work than I was expecting (and that my little arms were ready for), but I got it done and heldmyown worked up a sweat.

You know I've gotta cheese it up when a camera comes out ;)

This rockstar I am doing partner push-ups with is Dani. We got to talking about Michigan because she had a tag
from Grand Rapids on her shirt, come to find out she went to the University of Michigan too!Source: @novemberprojectseattle's Instagram feed

We even got back to the hotel with time to change before meeting up with everyone else and heading to HQ (at this point I also had to check out of my room since I'd be heading directly to the airport after we finished our afternoon activities).

Brooks calls their athletes "beasts" so their eating area is the "beastro", get it?!

You can't sit with us... Just kidding - everyone is invited!

The morning and afternoon were full of more presentations about exciting products and changes coming soon, capped off with an afternoon group run. We had the option to either do a 3.1 or 4.1 mile run, and obviously I went for the longer. (I mean, let's be real, after sitting for about 6 hours in presentations, I was ready to get my legs moving before being on a plane for another 3 hours.) It's always a blast getting to workout with friends and this run around Seattle was no different.

And, before I knew it, it was time to hop on a plane and head home already. (We were able to choose to either fly out Friday night or Saturday morning, but the hubby's birthday was Friday and we had plans on Saturday so I opted for the Friday flight even though that meant missing extra time with my Run Happy Ambassador friends.)

Thankfully the flight wasn't full on the way home because I was still a bit sweaty
(as you can see in my hair) and I'm sure my neighbor appreciated the extra room.

The trip was a bit of a whirlwind, chocked full of time with friends, tons of info and a decent amount of mileage. By the time we pulled into the house on Friday evening it was close to 11:30pm, and although I was physically tired, my heart was full. PS Sorry this was sort of a teaser post, but I gave you decent warning at the beginning so you can't hold it against me, right?! And now you know there are exciting things on the horizon... even if you don't know exactly what they are ;)

As always, a MAJOR THANKS to Brooks for hosting the event and taking care of us from the start to the finish. It's an honor to be part of the Run Happy Ambassador program, one that I am forever grateful for! YOU ALL ROCK MY SOCKS!

And if you've stuck with this post through till the end, then do I have a surprise for you! We were gifted some gear while in Seattle that I want to bless another runner with! The prize package will include a pair of Chaser 3" Shorts {women's size small}, Distance Tank {women's size small}, Chaser Hat and Socks. Entering the giveaway is easy-peasy! Simply use the Rafflecopter widget below and cross your fingers and toes. Some entries are available daily so enter early and often!

This giveaway will run through Sunday, September 29th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be contacted on Monday, September 30th via the email address on their Rafflecopter account and has 24 hours to claim their prize pack (make sure your information is up-to-date and you check your email regularly). US Residents only. All entries are verified, so do whatever the required action for the entry is or it will be disqualified. I'd hate for you to miss out due to a technicality, so if you're going to click the option, make sure you do whatever it asks or a new, random winner will be selected in your place.

I adore everything about Brooks! I've used Brooks exclusively since around 2015, and I'd never go back to any other brand. I haven't, however, ever tried apparel or accessories, so it would be awesome to win this giveaway! Thanks so much in advance for this opportunity!